We have several exciting projects at the shop that will get full reports on zcarblog.com. This is only a brief sample, please tune into our Instagram story for more sights and sounds.
Return of the #46 BRE Datsun 240Z!
The BRE #46 Z is back from paint by our man William and it is finally getting the hand-painted livery applied at the shop as I write this. You may recall that the Z was flipped on to its roof with John Morton at the wheel racing at the 2019 Classic 24hr race at Daytona International Speedway
The Z will be re-assembled, dyno tuned and tested in a few weeks at Sonoma with our hero John Morton and Rob Fuller! Super amped to see #46 back in fighting form and very happy for owner Randy Jaffe. Check our IG story to see the livery being applied by hand, this is a lost art and incredible to watch.
1970 Salt Flat Racer Datsun 240z
This historically significant 1970 Datsun 240z was built by a team of Nissan employees to compete at Bonneville in the F/GT class. In 1976 their efforts resulted in a new land speed record of 166.037 mph, which stood unbroken until 1985. This Z resided in the Nissan Museum and is now in the care of Randy Jaffe. Lots of neat details the Z 432R seats and G-nose. More to come! Big thanks to Randy and Nissan for letting us bring this Z back to life. We just finished the exhaust and dyno tuning,
One of many Z32s we are working on, Steve’s will get a full report soon as well as the Stillen SMZ:
Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z returned for a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake and CD009a 6-speed transmission:
Several S30 Z cars are getting our Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (for small wheels) like these two 280zs:
This is a 1972 Official OMS Pace Car Duplicate. It is at present one of only two known survivors. Fifty were originally produced by Nissan Motors to commemorate the DATSUN 240Z being selected by the Ontario Motor Speedway to Pace the 1972 “U.S.A.C. California 500 Championship”. This one belongs to our long time customer and friend Linda. More to come!
B-Sedan Datsun 510s!
Larry Oka’s B-sedan is getting built and prepped with our Z Car Garage CV Axles. The Corky Bell 510 is also scheduled for a full restoration:
R32 Skylines!
Mike’s R32 GT-R is back for turbo, fueling and exhaust upgrades, full report soon! #TETUESDAY
We just got this really clean R32 GTS-T in:
Dyno Tuning your 350z/370z/Q/G
We have been dyno tuning your late model Nissan/Infiniti sports car daily. Bolt-ons, UPREV tuning, “popcorn” maps. Our customers leave happy with more performance. Call us to schedule an appointment! Here are just a few cars:
LONG LIVE THE Z! Check out our Instagram story for more updates!
Arsia has been coming to Z Car Garage for over 10 years with his 1994 Z32 Convertible. This was his first car and it has been a pleasure helping him maintain and modify it.
“When I first went to ZCG I was incredibly happy to have found a place that I could completely trust with my Z. Working with Rob is like finding a doctor that you trust and listen to any advice they give.”
“I got the Z in 1996 while I was in high school. My parents were open to me getting a sporty car, but nothing too crazy. I have an uncle in San Diego that sold used cars and he told my parents he had a great deal on a used 1994 Convertible Z. Lucky for me, my parents had no idea what type of car this was, but assumed it was something mild given my uncle was recommending it. In high school the car was used in one of our school parades. Today, the Z is still my daily driver and me and my girlfriend love taking the car out together on weekends for a drive or road trip.”
Making It His Own
Over the last decade Arsia would come to the shop for little projects, slowly giving the 300 his personal touch and building a really nice convertible. The body received a KarumaZ rear spoiler and we called upon our man William from William’s Auto Body to mold-in the side skirts and correct paint work.
Engine
At 93k miles, routine maintenance and upgrades commenced. We fixed all the little things he asked of us and performed timing belt services. Power upgrades included JWT 400 cams, POP charger, JWT ecu (tuned by Rob) rob tune, aftermarket cat and a SpecialtyZ 2.5″ exhaust:
With Rob’s dyno tuning the VG30DE made 206hp/185hp at the wheels. Solid gains of 24hp/34tq from baseline!
Suspension
Early on we installed Tokico 5-way shocks with an Eibach pro-kit, SPL T/C Rods, z32 rack bushings, and Stillen sway bars:
In 2015 we upgraded to TEIN Street Flex coil-overs with EDFC and GPS active suspension:
More maintenance followed with a new convertible top, smog, fuel hoses, 02 sensors and oil change in 2016.
In 2019 we replaced the injectors, cleaned up wear and tear. The transmission got tired so we did a Level 1 hot rod unit with torque converter. 10 years had passed so we serviced timing belt:
Stoptech Big-Brakes
As every Z32 owner knows, the stock brakes just aren’t up to the task. More power exacerbates the issue and you know how we feel at ZCG: It’s Stoptech Or Don’t Stop At All. Arsia’s Z got the 328mm Big-Brake Kit using red ST40 calipers and slotted rotors. A Stoptech sport kit in back with color matched stock calipers completes the system:
Wheels
Wheels make the car. Arsia had a set of OEM (’05-09) 18″ Z33 wheels on the 300. After much research, in Fall 2019 we ordered a set of Volk CE28N SL 18×8.5 front, 18x 9.5 rear finished in Pressed Graphite:
“Finding the CE28N wheels was a long hard process that honestly took hours of research over many days (thankfully Rob was there to help). I kept looking through tons of sites and hundreds of wheel options. Wheel after wheel either didn’t fit, had been discontinued, or wasn’t available in the color I wanted. I knew that whatever wheel I chose would be on the car for 10+ years, so I wanted to ensure it was high quality, extremely light and matched the aesthetics of a pearl Z. I was soooo happy with the result and the help from Rob to really perfect the look of the car.”
The CE28N wheels are light, at 17.8 lbs and they they look fantastic against the pearl white and gleaming Stoptech calipers behind those iconic spokes.
An alignment was performed after wheels/tire installation and we also installed center caps. The SL series wheels are not designed to accept a center cap so we used a hub adapter for that icing on the cake:
Arsia is stoked with the upgrades:
“The thing that I’ve loved with my journey with Rob is that not only is the car well maintained after being 26yrs old, but that it just keeps getting better. With the addition of Stoptech brakes, TEIN suspension, new cams, transmission upgrade, etc, the car feels better than new, while still being a capable daily driver. Rob really knows what maintenance and upgrades work best!”
Enjoying the Ride
Arsia can be found cruising around the Bay Area backroads, top down Enjoying The Ride. We love that after all these years he’s still passionate about his 300. More pictures in the gallery below!
“Rob is always super knowledgeable and understands what your goals are. I love the fact that he knows these cars so well and his top priority is having customers drive away with a smile. Every single time I’ve got the car back after service, I feel the same way I did the day I first drove the car….just grinning ear to ear! I really am thankful for the entire ZCG team, if it wasn’t for them, I truly don’t know if I would be able to still have this car today.”
Thank you Arsia, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with you. Long Live The Z!
One of the real joys this holiday season is the opportunity to say thank you and wish you the very best for the new year. From all of us at Z Car Garage we thank our friends, family and customers again for another exciting and productive year! Enjoy our 2020 recap and upcoming projects. Please note our holiday closure below:
ZCG will be closed from 12/23/20 and we will re-open for business on 1/5/21.
Before we take a look back at highlights from 2020, here several exciting customer projects coming along at the shop:
We also upgraded the interior with leather Recaro seats and sound deadening. Stay tuned for a full report!
Jim’s 1971 Datsun 240z returned for a Rebello 3.2L with triple-Mikuni carbs on a Harada intake and CD009a 6-speed transmission:
Dirk’s 1973 Datsun 240z is back for a 3.0L engine and tuning, we can’t wait to show you the dyno results!
This historically significant 1970 Datsun 240z was built by a team of Nissan employees to compete at Bonneville in the F/GT class. In 1976 their efforts resulted in a new land speed record of 166.037 mph, which stood unbroken until 1985. This Z resided in the Nissan Museum and is now in the care of Randy Jaffe. Lots of neat details the Z 432R seats and G-nose. More to come! Big thanks to Randy and Nissan for letting us bring this Z back to life.
One of many Z32s we are working on, Steve’s will get a full report soon:
Highlights from 2020
Even though 2020 was crazy year for all of us we still managed to have fun on and off the track. The shop made some really great progress as well.
Enjoy these highlights from 2020 and Z you in the New Year!
We love to see our products being installed and used on customer cars. Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running our latest ZCG Heat Shield in this vintage 260z race car!
A few close-ups of the ZCG Heat Shield, this piece is serial #0025:
A short background on this 1973 Datsun 260Z from Jim:
“This car was built in the winter of ’77-’78 and its first event was the Portland Rose Cup in June 1978. The Portland Rose Festival’s queen, Tina Klassy, was photographed with the car and featured in local advertising for the event. The car competed in SCCA CP class mainly in events on the west coast and ran in the SCCA National Runoffs twice with sponsorship help from Carlos Vercelli, owner of well known Datsun specialty service shop “Carlos Garage” in Fullerton, CA . It was campaigned successfully at a national level, including a 3rd place finish at the SCCA runoff’s. Survived in its original production class specification and bodywork throughout the entire time. It received a cosmetic restoration in 2015 and was put back into its original Carlos’s Garage livery and currently runs vintage events across the country today.”
At the 2018 RMMR we were happy to see Carlos Vercelli (red hat) supporting the Z with driver/owner John Murray:
Anytime Jim and the crew from Racecraft are in the area we love to help tune their cars. They had just installed a new engine in John’s 260z and Rob dyno tuned it. It was great to see our heat shield on the Z and the guys from Racecraft build some really fast, beautiful cars. Turn those speakers up!
The ZCG Heat Shield is available for purchase at $169.00 with product information below. View this product and other ZCG parts on the new “products” page of our website HERE
ZCG Heat Shield
We are excited to offer the Z Car Garage Heat Shield for your triple-carb’d L-series Z car. This is a one-piece 304 stainless unit with laser-etched serial number. Proven on all of our L-series engine builds and dyno testing.
This heat shield will fit Mikuni, Weber, Dellorto and Jenvey induction with several intake manifolds like the Harada:
Jim Froula also runs our Z Car Garage CV axles on several of his vintage race cars, check it out!
Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft is running ZCG axles in several of his cars:
Set #246 – installed May 2018 on the “Harry Stewart #52” Datsun 510:
Set #247 – installed April 2018 on the 260z
Set #248 – installed on Adam Carolla’s “Greg Sorrentino #90” Datsun 510.
We are pleased to report that Jim will also be installing a set on his “George Alderman #32” 300ZX! The ZCG CV axles are also perfect for high hp street cars which can be seen in the link above.
Z Car Garage Big-Brake Kit
Our ZCG Big-Brake kit is the last stop in braking performance for your S30.
ZCG Big-brakes and T3 coil-overs replacing stock setup on Brian’s 1973 240z:
View these products on the new “products” page of our website HERE, stay tuned for more innovative parts from Z Car Garage!
The 1990 to 1996 Nissan 300zx Twin-Turbo is the underdog of 90’s Japanese supercars. Sure the RX7, Supra and NSX get all the attention – but the Z32 (yes we are biased) represents the best balance of performance, reliability and comfort. From the intimate feeling of the power leather seats and gauge cluster to the addictive power that evokes a familiar Nissan commercial…
…the Z32 is magical. It is hard to describe how rad these cars are after ZCG has gone through one. Let’s take a look at our customer Chris V. and see of what our 20yrs+ of experience with this chassis can create.
Chris Finds a 300zx
We started working with Chris in 2014 and this is his Z car story:
“I was a huge 510 fan (I still am). In 1990 I was at Sunnyvale Nissan picking up some parts when I saw my first 300ZX. My jaw dropped at it’s gorgeous yet subtle shape. It was such a welcome departure from the angular late 80’s Z body styles. I sat in it, and marveled at the organic dash design. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, “What an awesome car, I’ll never be able to afford one of these.”
“Fast forward to 1996, my commute was a 100 mile round trip, and it was killing my beloved 510. I started looking around for a newer car that would make a good commuter. Well, the “commuter” I found was a ’92 300ZX TT, offered at a local BMW dealer. The price was right, and it came home with me. Dream come true. It had about 40k on it when I bought it, and was in great shape. It was my trusted commute car for years, and the miles piled on. I was diligent with maintenance, and never had any issues until about 165k miles, when one of my turbos died.”
In 2001 Chris was confronted with fuel injector replacement, a task that he wanted to tackle himself but work/life kept his project from moving. Eventually boxes and blankets covered the car while it sat on jackstands in the garage. It remained this way for 12 years.
He decided it was time to bring back his Z32 and came to us for a Z Car Garage-style resurrection in 2014. We collaborated on one of the coolest 300s to leave the shop. Our plan, on top of a restoration, was to build an “adult’s Hot Rod”…a Z with great power and handling that could still be driven daily and last for many thousands of miles worry-free.
Engine
Virtually everything was updated or replaced in the engine bay. The engine followed a similar recipe as Rob’s personal Z32TT: a Rebello Racing VG30 with all new internals including JE pistons, Eagle rods, all new bearings, Nissan headgasket and JWT sport 500 cams with HD valve springs. Everything was built to go to 800hp if necessary, for durability and reliability.
The entire engine room wiring harness (Wiring Specialties) was replaced for peace of mind. Shown below are BDE cam gears and exhaust gears so we could improve boost spool and make a wider powerband. BDE engine mounts are fantastic pieces that have become a staple on our Z32 builds:
Providing boost are JWT BB700s (GT2860RS turbos, known as Disco Potato) mounted to a set of killer Mike Smith exhaust manifolds with EGR( for smog compliance)
Impossibly trick and beautiful 5-bolt 3″ downpipes from SpecialtyZ…it’s shame they are not visible from the engine bay!
New turbos, exhaust manifolds and downpipes mounted:
From the downpipes the SpecialtyZ exhaust system continues with 3″ mid pipes, and their 2.5″ cat-back system w/resonated X-pipe:
Everything in the fuel system and induction was brand new. Fueling duties are handled by an Aeromotive 340lph pump and Nismo 740cc injectors with JWT adapter to allow late-style injectors in the early car. Brand new induction consist of Ashspec inlet piping and Massive intercoolers with 2.5″ piping:
Backing the new engine is a JWT lightweight aluminum flywheel and HD street clutch:
Drivetrain all buttoned up and ready for dyno tuning:
Dyno Tuning
Rob dyno tuned the Z using Nistune ECU board and Greddy Profec boost controller. On 91 octane it made 503hp/425tq at the wheels:
We can’t cover every detail that was handled in the engine bay so please check the photo gallery below! Every piece in this engine that is available from Nissan was replaced: new clutch hydraulics, O2 sensors, new fan clutch, new cooling fan, new power steering hoses, a Koyo race radiator and A/C charge/retrofit to R134A. All parts in front of the engine were replaced so this car won’t need anything for the next 30-60k miles.
Chassis
The stock brakes on the 300zx are a weak point of the car, especially with increased power levels. We were stoked that Chris picked the Stoptech Trophy kit featuring 332mm slotted rotors and that super sexy lightweight caliper. He’s really impressed:
“One of my favorite parts of the build was the aforementioned brake upgrade, we used StopTech Trophy billet four piston calipers up front on 320mm floating rotors, with rebuilt OEM rear calipers painted to match the color of the new fronts, on slotted OEM diameter StopTech rotors, with braided lines all around.”
OEM Z32 caliper and Stoptech Trophy setup:
Color matched rear calipers:
Suspension
The suspension was gone through completely with all new parts. KW V3s are our favorite coil-over setup. Stillen sway bars are also shown:
Stock vs KW V3s installed front:
Rear:
Every little nook and cranny of the suspension was handled. New SPL tension rods, upper front control arms, new rear wheel bearings and HICAS removal/eliminator:
T/C rods, Stillen sway bar:
Wheels
Wheel choice can really impact the look of any car. Thankfully Chris has excellent taste and with some perseverance we got our hands on a set of Work VSxx in Burning Silver with silver hardware. Sized 18x9F and 18x10R with our favorite summer tire, the Bridgestone S-04PP:
What a difference the new wheels make! Well done, Chris:
“I wanted wheels that would be appropriate for the age and design of the car, a lot of modern wheel designs would look out of place on a 28 year old car. I ended up with Work Wheels from Japan. Their 3 piece VS-XX wheel fit my idea perfectly. The wheels would have to be made to order, and the offset had to be perfect to get them to look right. Turned out that their forging die was worn out for the rear centers, and a new forging die had to be made, extending the time it took to get them. In the end, it was definitely worth the wait. I think they are a perfect match for the car. Racy, but subtle, and a great period look for my ZX.”
Body
With most of the mechanical bits sorted, it was time to also make the car look as good as it ran. We had our man William re-painted the car and fix all the flaws, erasing years of minor dings and dents. A new JDM MY 2000 front bumper and a new OE shape fiberglass rear spoiler were installed and William did an amazing job blending the spoiler into the trunk. It appears stock, but the blended shapes make for a unique look.
Chris decided to stick with the original OEM anthracite gray color with a subtle pearl on top:
A complete KarumaZ molding kit and OEM parts allow all those trim pieces to pop against that new paint:
Windshield trim detail:
The T-Tops got some love as well:
Boost Saves
From start to finish this was an outstanding project. Chris is a fellow enthusiast who races motorcycles and it was such a pleasure to work with another motorsports/gearhead. He’s since moved up to Roseville and still takes the Z out a few times a week, sending us e-mails telling it was worth the wait:
“Of course the project and the budget went through several revisions and expansions, but I loved the way it was going. The project had a slow pace, and that was fine by me. I wanted it done right, not quickly. Virtually everything was updated or replaced.”
We love hearing and seeing him Enjoy The Ride…
“I’m living in Roseville east of Sacramento now, so the long drive home from San Jose in my newly restored car was one of the best drives of my life. It had been 15 years since I had driven it. Loved every minute of the drive. I managed to be a law abiding citizen ALMOST all the way, until a deserted stretch of Hwy 99. We hit 145 pretty quick, and I was amazed at the acceleration from 500+ hp. The StopTech brakes are something else too, and absolutely necessary with that kind of power on tap.
In the nearly two years since it’s been back home, it gets driven once a week or so when the weather is nice, and I am more in love with the car than ever. Up here in the foothills there are miles of curvy, lightly traveled roads. It’s the perfect placer for my Z, riding that huge power curve and taking advantage of the upgraded suspension. It’s so neutral handling, and the larger and wider Bridgestones stick like glue. Rob continues to take great care of the car, and takes good care of me too, when I make the long drive down to have it serviced.”
This is a testament to an epic sports car Nissan built when ruling the 90’s. From country roads to the race track Nissan was it. We love preserving that legacy and keeping these legends alive.
It makes us smile to see Chris still having a good time in his dream car:
“My six year old daughter Maggie loves to ride in her Dad’s “race car” (as she calls it). One evening we had to drive to take dinner to my wife, who was working late unexpectedly. We pull up to a stop light, and there is a relatively new model Porsche Turbo in the lane next to us. I don’t really pay it any mind, after all, my (then) 4 year old is in the front seat. The light turns green, and the Porsche launches full throttle and goes blasting away. We get about halfway to the next light, and Maggie turns to me and says, “You’re not going to let him beat us, are you?” After a double take at her comment, I laugh. We pull up next to the Porsche, and I look down the road. It’s clear, no one is around. Okay, hell. The light changes, and we both launch. He gets the better of me off the line, then my boost comes in and we go past him like he’s standing still, my daughter laughing like a maniac the whole way. We get to the next light, and he arrives a few seconds later. Apparently waxing him was not enough for my daughter, as she rolls down her window, looks at him and waves, “Hi !!!!”
Like Rob says, Boost Saves…check out the photo gallery below and LONG LIVE THE Z!
